Gina DiMaio has a track record of building successful programs.
Pope John is banking on her ability to do the same for its field hockey program. DiMaio was hired as the Sparta schools head coach on Tuesday.
DiMaio replaces Susan Blanchard, who guided the Lions from 2009-11. Under Blanchard, Pope John went 28-29-2 overall, including a 10-16-1 mark in Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference games. The Lions, who had sub-.500 seasons the last two years, went 17-4-1 in 2009 -- reaching the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament semifinals in the event's inaugural season.
"I'm excited," said DiMaio, who sports an overall coaching mark of 123-70-15 in stints at Hackettstown and Newark Academy. "Pope John wants to win. I like to win. Winning is fun. Losing [stinks]."
DiMaio made her mark at Hackettstown, where she resurrected a program that had been idle for 15 years. DiMaio took over in 2001 and the school spent one season on the junior varsity level before becoming a varsity program in 2002.
The Tigers enjoyed immediate success as the qualified for the state playoffs in only its second varsity season in 2003 and every year after until 2009. Hackettstown went a combined 111-49-9 in her eight seasons in charge, winning three Skyland Conference Raritan Division titles and the school's only two Hunterdon-Warren Tournament championships in 2004 and '05.
In the spring of 2010, DiMaio, a standout defensive player during her high school days at Belvidere, was informed that she would not be rehired for a ninth season at Hackettstown. She then was hired as the head coach at Newark Academy for the 2010 season.
DiMaio spent two seasons at the Livingston-based school, going 7-10-3 her first season and 5-11-3 this past fall, qualifying for the state playoffs both seasons for the first time in recent program history. Her 2011 team went 1-1 in the North 1, Group 1 playoffs -- defeating Whippany Park, 1-0, in the opening round before falling, 6-0, to powerhouse Mountain Lakes.
DiMaio said the hardest part of leaving Newark Academy was informing athletic director Ed Manigan of her decision to take the job at Pope John.
"It was tough," said DiMaio, who developed a very good relationship with Manigan the last two years. "The girls there are great and they worked hard."
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